Early Friday, the Los Angeles Angels announced that superstar Mike Trout would indeed head to the 10-day IL with a bone bruise in his left knee, according to Rhett Bollinger at MLB.com. The latest injury in the unfortunate timeline of one of baseball's best comes with avoiding disaster; at least the injury wasn't worse. Given that this is the same knee that Trout has surgically repaired, a collective exhale and sigh of relief that nothing was torn can ensue.
Before the injury, Trout had been in quite a slump, batting just .179/.264/.462. The home runs are still there, he has nine, but we want to see Trout return to who he was: a .300, 30+ home run hitter. Some time on the IL can help Trout get back to form, as it's clear his approach has been home run or bust. The Angels, who sit at dead last in the AL West with a record of 12-18, can't afford to be without their best player.
Trout's .264 OBP is alarmingly low, indicating further that his approach at the plate is not what it used to be. He is in the 90th percentile in terms of Launch Angle Sweet-spot%, barrel%, and xSLG, but his 29.8 K% is in the bottom 10 percent of the league, and 7 percent higher than his career average. Furthermore, his -2 Outs Above Average during his right field experiment has not gone well.
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Can Mike Trout still play at an elite level?
When Trout signed a 12-year, $426 million contract with the Angels back in 2019, it was a record. That is because Trout was solidified as the best player in the game, but since then, it's been mostly downhill. Ravaged by injuries over the past few seasons, one of baseball's juggernauts will again look to bounce back and hope everything clicks. When healthy and playing at the top of his game, Trout is a no-doubt Hall of Fame talent.
How can the Angels help keep him healthy? Do you relegate him to DH now that these injuries keep increasing yearly? Any opposing pitcher still fears his bat in the lineup, but overdoing it in the field no longer seems a viable option for the 11-time All-Star. However, to get Trout back on his 30+ homer pace, perhaps focusing only on hitting upon his return would help him find the production we've all grown accustomed to. Trout at the top of his game is one of the very best things to watch in baseball.